Documented migration to the US 1820-1957 by decade

Migration to the United States of America fluctuated greatly between 1280 and 1957. The first major wave came in the 1850s, and was primarily made up of Irish migrants fleeing famine and those who could not find work in rural Germany. This set a new trend of mass migration to the United States, and as the decades progressed, steam ship technology improved, as did access to and the affordability of these intercontinental journeys, which led to further migration from all over the world, particularly other areas of Europe. Migration rates decreased greatly in the 1930s and 1940s, due to the Great Depression and Second World War, although these levels increased again in the 1950s.